No charges seen yet for float driver as Midland wreck probe continues

Updated 11:21 pm, Friday, December 7, 2012

A volunteer parade float driver likely won't face criminal charges in connection with a Midland train crash that killed four war veterans and injured 16 others last month, despite driving onto the tracks after the warning signals had been activated, a city spokeswoman said Friday.

Although an investigation continues into the Nov. 15 collision, authorities “do not plan to file charges” against Dale Andrew Hayden, an Army reservist who was driving the parade float that was struck by a Union Pacific train traveling 62 mph, Sara Higgins said.

Still, she said, “after Midland police completes (its) investigation, the case would go over to the district attorney's office.”

Hayden was driving a Smith Industries Inc. truck, pulling a flatbed trailer in a parade to honor the injured veterans as part of a weekend celebration in their honor, when it was struck by an eastbound Union Pacific freight train.

According to the NTSB, Hayden drove into the crossing on South Garfield Street. The crew sounded the horn and applied the train's emergency brakes, but wasn't able to stop before striking the back of the trailer.

More than a dozen others were injured in the crash, including Midland County Sheriff's Office Deputy Edelmira Zamora Subia, whose patrol car was blocking traffic for the parade — although the parade did not have a city permit — and was struck by the trailer.

Midland County's First Assistant District Attorney, Steve Stallings, said his office will look at the case once it receives the finalized police report.

“We will evaluate it,” he said, “to see if there is any criminal culpability involved.”

When asked about the news of no charges, Hayden's attorney C.H. “Hal” Brockett Jr., said, “Of course, we're very pleased with that.”

Lawyers representing two couples who were on the parade float have sued Smith Industries and UP, claiming negligence. Documents released by the Texas Department of Transportation show that the crossing was initially designed to provide more warning time than was provided the day of the crash.

The records show the design plans called for a 30-second warning time, 10 seconds longer than the 20-second warning that the NTSB said was given.

UP has said the design plans from 20 to 30 years ago don't reflect current conditions and points to the NTSB's timeline that indicates the float proceeded onto the tracks eight seconds after the warnings activated. The 20-second warning meets the federal minimum requirement, a spokeswoman has said.

The lawyers had also requested access to the crossing to collect their own evidence, and they reached an agreement with other attorneys involved Friday. On Dec. 17 and 18, the attorneys will inspect the warning signal system and inspect the locomotive, as well as the Smith Industries truck, in Midland.

“We believe this information will help prove our claim that the railroad failed in its legal duty to maintain the warning time as it was designed,” states a news release from Lubbock-based lawyer Kevin Glasheen.

It will take a year to 18 months for the NTSB's probe to be complete, a spokesman said.